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Friday, February 28, 2014

Sepia Saturday: A Blast at Pig Point

Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family
history through old photographs.

This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt featuring three men, a
mountain, and a telescope made me cry “Uncle.” Not in absolute defeat. But close.
Helen Killeen Parker, whose photos have been featured numerous times on
this blog, came to the rescue:

Pig Point Ordnance Depot
about 1918

What is this?

Something to the far right resembles a telescope, but it
could just as easily be a megaphone or none of the above.

But the point of Sepia Saturday is INSPIRATION, not
matching necessarily. As puzzling photos
always do, I was inspired to “peer through the telescope” to bring faint and
distant details into focus. What was this
place? Who were those men? Why did Aunt Helen have this picture?

Fortunately for me, an earlier OR later photo of the same
building was labeled “Pig Point, Va.” The
sign in both reads “Headquarters Ordnance Office.” Pig Point was located along the James River
in what is now part Portsmouth and part Suffolk, Virginia. During the Civil War it was the site of one
of the very first battles in which the Union tried to blockade the Chesapeake
Bay and the Confederacy tried to prohibit use of its rivers by Union
troops.

This sign is located in Suffolk on Rt 460
(on the right traveling west)

The Depot was commissioned by the federal government in
1917 as Pig Point Ordnance Depot. In the
1920 federal census, a 19-year old Herbert Parker (Aunt Helen’s future husband)
was listed as a clerk for the Army there at the Depot. During World War I, tons of ammunition were
processed daily. No doubt Herbert was
involved in the storage, shipment, classification, and destruction. (Labeling the General Ordnance Depot as “the
Royal Dog House” must have been Herbert’s idea of a joke, but that joke has
been lost to time.)

Headquarters Ordnance Office

The Ordnance Depot was demobilized after World War II. Now fast-forward to 1987. I was teaching at the Portsmouth Campus of Tidewater
Community College which sat right there on old “Pig Point.”

image found on Pinterest
Architect's drawing of the early Portsmouth Campus
with classrooms in a converted warehouse

image from Timmons.com

It was discovered that the Department of
Defense years before had buried explosives, shells, and other munitions both
spent and live in several military landfills on what later became the TCC Campus. A massive program was put in place to remove
grenades, TNT, boosters, chemicals, miscellaneous ordnance, and contaminated
soil.

Almost daily for weeks at a time over a period of years,
faculty routinely received alerts that the Army Corps of Engineers would be detonating
some old ammunition that day, so not to worry – no one is in danger. It was easy to become numb to the whole
business, joking about teaching in a war zone.

But then one day in 1993 water fountains were covered
with plastic and duct tape. Bottled
water stands and paper cups took their place when concerns were raised over
possible contamination in the production wells.

The removal program was declared complete in 2001, and a
remedial follow-up was completed in 2011.
One heckuva restoration program!

Today grand homes, thriving shopping centers, high-tech
industry and exquisitely-landscaped industrial parks reside where Uncle Herbert
once strolled the grounds of the Ordnance Depot. Few people know the name “Pig Point”
anymore. We know it as the more alluring
“Harbour View.”

Entrance to one of the upscale communities in Harbour View

Take a look through the telescope for more stories and
old photos at Sepia Saturday.

Love your title which finally comes through with the ordinance detonation story. I'm voting for megaphone in the first picture. Not sure why however...but it doesn't have the right "angles" for a telescope, I don't think. Come on over to NC to see our Blue Ridge Parkway any time. I actually have some roots in Suffolk too.

Wow, isn't it amazing how those themes that at first stump us, become some of our most interesting posts! Your Uncle Herbert's story, one of those you had to be there to know it, but now we too can learn about it. Great history of our time, and you have a family relation to it! I wonder if the Library of Congress has any information too?

A town one hour away from here has a paper mill that gives off the worst odor. How do people live there? I think when you live in questionable conditions, you don't even notice them. That's how it was at TCC -- the blasting was just another ordinary part of the day that we stopped noticing.

I wonder if the name might have come from Francis Hough who owned the property in 1635. It's reasonable to think his name might have been pronounced Hoag gradually becoming more like Hog - hence Hog's Point & gradually Pig Point? Interesting to think about, but as you said, no one seems to know for sure. Fun & informative post.

When I took classes at the OLD TCC one of my classes we took a walk on the grounds-out in the wood where the old Army housing stood. Lots and LOTS of Army equipment was lying around. Glad we didn't blow up!

What an interesting journey through the years and amazing family connections. With the change of name it turns out your can make a silk purse out of a sows ear:-) I was so intrigued by the area being called Suffolk (one of my favourite places in England) that I had to see it on a map and then discovered the Great Dismal Swamp nearby, that must be one of the best names ever.

HA HA -- love the silk purse/sow's ear joke especially considering the name Pig Point. I wish I had thought of that. This area is full of English names (after all, we were the first permanent English colony) - Portsmouth, Norfolk, Suffolk, York, Gloucester.

Very interesting history, really appreciate the thought and research that you put into this. Of course the land would go into development once cleared of the military debris. Pig Point, wonder why that name; did it resemble pigs to someone or were there wild boar?

Several theories: 1. during the Civil War, ships carrying livestock for the troops were sunk in battle and pigs swam ashore and populated the area ; 2. the land is shaped like a pig's head ; 3. it is a counterpoint to Hog Island across the river. The truth is that no one knows for sure because a lot of early records have been lost in court fires. We know the first theory isn't right because the name Pigg Point is mentioned in a will dated in the late 1600s.

Pig Point is a terrific example of a typical Virginia geography name. I think the men in the first photo are working with a very long fire hose which were often used for forestry work and kept on reels that resemble wagon wheels. The megaphone is exactly that, and was usually placed next to a flagpole, (as were fire hoses), so that the company bugler could play reveille and taps and it be heard by soldiers throughout the camp.

I'm learning more about America from Sepia Saturday than I ever did at school; you have added more. You started with a telescope and if my eyes are right there is one in the entrance to Harbour View as well.

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About Me

My name is Wendy. About twenty years ago, I helped my mother research the Jolletts. Since retiring from teaching, I have expanded my research which I share here. When I’m not looking for my own family, I index for FamilySearch and the Greene County Historical Society.
Welcome to Jollett Etc. Please leave a comment to let me know you were here. If you have more information or believe we are related, EMAIL ME at wendymath at cox dot net